U.S. patent number 9,123,086 [Application Number 13/838,815] was granted by the patent office on 2015-09-01 for automatically generating event objects from images.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Palantir Technologies, Inc.. The grantee listed for this patent is Palantir Technologies, Inc.. Invention is credited to Carl Freeland, Michael Kross, Huey Kwik, Timothy Ronan, Eric Sadur, Jacob Scott.
United States Patent |
9,123,086 |
Freeland , et al. |
September 1, 2015 |
Automatically generating event objects from images
Abstract
A mobile data analysis system is provided that enables mobile
device location tracking, secure messaging, and real-time sharing
of intelligence information, among other features. In one
embodiment, a method and apparatus is provided for creating data
objects from one or more digital images captured by a mobile
device. A computing device receives a first digital image file
comprising first image metadata, wherein the first image metadata
includes one or more image properties each having an image property
value. The computing device transforms one or more of the image
property values of the one or more image properties into one or
more particular values. The computing device populates one or more
data object property values of a data object with the one or more
particular values. The computing device stores the data object in a
data repository.
Inventors: |
Freeland; Carl (Mountain View,
CA), Scott; Jacob (Mountain View, CA), Sadur; Eric
(San Francisco, CA), Ronan; Timothy (London, GB),
Kross; Michael (Palo Alto, CA), Kwik; Huey (San
Francisco, CA) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Palantir Technologies, Inc. |
Palo Alto |
CA |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Palantir Technologies, Inc.
(Palo Alto, CA)
|
Family
ID: |
53938926 |
Appl.
No.: |
13/838,815 |
Filed: |
March 15, 2013 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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61759283 |
Jan 31, 2013 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F
16/2291 (20190101); G06F 16/955 (20190101); H04L
67/306 (20130101); H04M 1/72457 (20210101); G06F
16/583 (20190101); G06T 1/00 (20130101); G06F
16/58 (20190101); G06F 16/289 (20190101); H04W
4/026 (20130101); G06F 16/258 (20190101); H04L
67/18 (20130101); H04W 4/023 (20130101); H04W
4/08 (20130101); Y10S 707/915 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G06K
9/46 (20060101); G06T 1/00 (20060101) |
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WO |
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Primary Examiner: Lu; Li
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Hickman Palermo Becker Bingham
LLP
Parent Case Text
PRIORITY INFORMATION
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application
No. 61/759,283, entitled "Automatically Generating Event Objects
From Images" and filed Jan. 31, 2013, the entire contents of which
is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein,
under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.119(e).
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A computer-implemented method, comprising: receiving a first
digital image comprising first image metadata, wherein the first
image metadata includes one or more image properties each having an
image property value; transforming one or more of the image
property values of the one or more image properties into one or
more particular values; populating one or more data object property
values of a first data object of an object-centric data model with
the one or more particular values; generating one or more links to
one or more other existing data objects of a data object graph
stored in a data repository; populating one or more data object
property values of the first data object with the one or more links
to the one or more other existing data objects; populating one or
more data object property values of the one or more other existing
data objects with one or more links to the first data object;
storing the first data object with the one or more particular
values in the data repository; wherein the method is performed by
one or more computing devices.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving the first
digital image from a mobile device via a wireless signal.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more links are
generated in response to receiving data from a mobile device
indicating the one or more links.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving user input
indicating a data object type of the data object; storing a value
indicating the data object type in association with the data
object.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the data object type is one of an
event, a person, an organization, a location, an entity, or an
item.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more image properties
include one or more of: date information, time of day information,
location information, camera settings information, user
information.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising populating the one or
more data object property values of the data object in response to
user selection of the digital image.
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a second
digital image comprising second image metadata; and wherein
transforming one or more of the image property values of the one or
more image properties into one or more particular values includes
generating summary information based on the first image metadata
and the second image metadata.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the summary information includes
a particular location value, the particular location value derived
from an average of a first location value associated with the first
image metadata and a second location value associated with the
second image metadata.
10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more
sequences of instructions, which when executed by one or more
processors, cause the one or more processors to carry out the steps
of: receiving a first digital image comprising first image
metadata, wherein the first image metadata includes one or more
image properties each having an image property value; transforming
one or more of the image property values of the one or more image
properties into one or more particular values; populating one or
more data object property values of a first data object of an
object-centric data model with the one or more particular values;
generating one or more links to one or more other existing data
objects of a data object graph stored in a data repository;
populating one or more data object property values of the first
data object with the one or more links to the one or more other
existing data objects; populating one or more data object property
values of the one or more other existing data objects with one or
more links to the first data object; storing the first data object
with the one or more particular values in the data repository.
11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10,
wherein the one or more instructions further comprise instructions
which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or
more processors to perform receiving the first digital image from a
mobile device via a wireless signal.
12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10,
wherein the one or more links are generated in response to
receiving data from a mobile device indicating the one or more
links.
13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10,
wherein the one or more instructions further comprise instructions
which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or
more processors to perform: receiving user input indicating a data
object type of the data object; storing a value indicating the data
object type in association with the data object.
14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13,
wherein the data object type is one of an event, a person, an
organization, a location, an entity, or an item.
15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10,
wherein the one or more image properties include one or more of:
date information, time of day information, location information,
camera settings information, user information.
16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10,
wherein the one or more instructions further comprise instructions
which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or
more processors to perform populating the one or more data object
property values of the data object in response to user selection of
the digital image.
17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10,
wherein the one or more instructions further comprise instructions
which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or
more processors to perform: receiving a second digital image
comprising second image metadata; and wherein transforming one or
more of the image property values of the one or more image
properties into one or more particular values includes generating
summary information based on the first image metadata and the
second image metadata.
18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17,
wherein the summary information includes a particular location
value, the particular location value derived from an average of a
first location value associated with the first image metadata and a
second location value associated with the second image
metadata.
19. A computer-implemented method, comprising: receiving, from a
mobile device via a wireless signal, a first digital image
comprising first image metadata, wherein the first image metadata
includes one or more image properties each having an image property
value; wherein the one or more image properties include one or more
of: date information, time of day information, location
information, camera settings information, user information;
receiving a second digital image comprising second image metadata;
displaying, on the mobile device, a first data object of an
object-centric data model with one or more selectable images;
wherein the one or more selectable images includes the first image
and the second image; receiving, from the mobile device, a
selection of the first image and the second image to be associated
with the data object; transforming one or more of the image
property values of the one or more image properties into one or
more particular values; wherein transforming one or more of the
image property of the one or more image properties into one or more
particular values includes generating summary information based on
the first image metadata and the second image metadata; wherein the
summary information includes a particular value, the particular
location value derived from an average of a first location value
associated with the first image metadata and a second location
value associated with the second image metadata; populating one or
more data object property values of the first data object with the
one or more particular values in response to receiving the
selection of the first image to be associated with the data object;
receiving data from a mobile device indicating one or more links to
one or more other existing data objects of a data object graph
stored in a data repository; generating one or more links to one or
more other existing data objects of a data object graph stored in
the data repository; populating one or more data object property
values of the first data object with the one or more links to the
one or more other existing data objects; populating one or more
data object property values of the one or more other existing data
objects with one or more links to the first data object; storing
the first data object with the one or more particular values in the
data repository; receiving user input indicating a data object type
of the data object; storing a value indicating the data object type
in association with the data object; wherein the data object type
is one of an event, a person, an organization, a location, an
entity, or an item; wherein the method is performed by one or more
computing devices.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present disclosure generally relates to data analysis. The
disclosure relates more specifically to a data analysis system that
includes one or more mobile devices.
BACKGROUND
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could
be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been
previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise
indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches
described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of
their inclusion in this section.
Many organizations frequently conduct operations that include
organization members performing activities in a dispersed
geographic area. For example, the operations of a law enforcement
agency typically include police officers patrolling assigned
geographic areas, responding to crime scenes, and interviewing
suspects and witnesses. As another example, a disaster relief
organization may respond to a natural disaster by sending out aid
workers to a disaster area to locate and provide assistance to
those in crisis. These types of operations may be referred to as
field operations and may generally include monitoring specific
geographic areas and subjects, interacting with persons of
interest, responding to and reporting information about the
occurrence of notable events, and any other activities that an
organization member may perform in the field.
In order to better coordinate field operations, an organization may
employ one or more other organization members at a centralized
location, referred to herein as operations analysts, that help
coordinate the activities of the organization members in the field,
referred to herein as field analysts. For example, operations
analysts may be responsible for instructing field analysts on
particular locations to investigate or subjects to monitor.
Similarly, field analysts may be expected to communicate certain
information related to the field operations back to operations
analysts.
Both field analysts and operations analysts face a number of
challenges in efficiently conducting field operations. These
challenges include enabling field analysts to maintain a
situational awareness of the environment in which the field
analysts are operating, including maintaining an awareness of the
location and activities of other field analysts. Additionally,
field analysts typically lack efficient access to information that
may have been previously collected and shared by other field
analysts and to real-time updates of such shared information.
Operations analysts similarly lack ways of maintaining a meaningful
awareness of the activities of a possibly large number of field
analysts for whom the operation analysts are responsible and
sharing detailed information with those field analysts.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the drawings:
FIG. 1 illustrates an example networked computer system in
accordance with an embodiment.
FIG. 2 illustrates an example mobile device system in accordance
with an embodiment.
FIG. 3 illustrates an example operations center system in
accordance with an embodiment.
FIG. 4 illustrates a process flow for generating one or more mobile
device teams and mobile device team visibility settings.
FIG. 5 illustrates an example graphical user interface of a mobile
device that is configured to display a location of one or more
mobile devices.
FIG. 6 illustrates an example graphical user interface of an
analyst workstation that is configured to display a location of one
or more mobile devices.
FIG. 7 illustrates an example graphical user interface of a mobile
device that is configured to enable messaging between field
analysts and between field analysts and operations analysts.
FIG. 8A, FIG. 8B illustrate example graphical user interfaces of a
mobile device that are configured to enable a user to capture
multimedia content on a mobile device and to send and receive
multimedia content in messages.
FIG. 9 illustrates a process flow for creating a data object from a
digital image.
FIG. 10 illustrates an example graphical user interface that is
configured to obtain user selection one or more digital images and
enable a user to create one or more data objects from the selected
digital images.
FIG. 11 illustrates an example graphical user interface that is
configured to enable a user to modify information associated with a
data object.
FIG. 12 illustrates an example graphical user interface of a mobile
device that is configured to enable a user to submit
geosearches.
FIG. 13 illustrates a computer system upon which an embodiment may
be implemented.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In the following description, for the purposes of explanation,
numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a
thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be
apparent, however, that the present invention may be practiced
without these specific details. In other instances, well-known
structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to
avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present invention. Embodiments
are described herein according to the following outline:
1.0 General Overview
2.0 Structural Overview
3.0 Architectural and Functional Overview 3.1 Mobile Device System
Architecture 3.2 Operations Center System Architecture 3.3
Configuring Mobile Device Teams 3.4 Mobile Device Tracking 3.5
Mobile Device Messaging 3.6 Creating Data Objects from Images 3.7
Mobile Device Search
4.0 Implementation Mechanisms--Hardware Overview
1.0 General Overview
The appended claims may serve as a summary of the invention.
According to various embodiments, a mobile data analysis system and
methods are provided that enable mobile device location tracking,
secure messaging, real-time data access and analysis, and other
features described herein.
In an embodiment, a mobile data analysis system may comprise one or
more mobile device user accounts. For example, mobile device user
accounts may be created for field analysts within an organization
and used by the field analysts to authenticate with the mobile data
analysis system using a mobile or other computing device. In an
embodiment, mobile device user accounts may be grouped into one or
more mobile device teams. Mobile device user accounts may be
grouped into mobile device teams based on organizational roles,
areas of responsibility, or any other characteristics. In an
embodiment, mobile device teams may be associated with visibility
settings that control user access to information associated with
mobile device user accounts of particular mobile device teams.
In an embodiment, systems and methods facilitate location tracking
of mobile devices. For example, mobile devices of the mobile data
analysis system may be configured to periodically report location
data associated with the mobile devices to a centralized server.
Field analysts using one or more mobile devices, and operations
analysts using one or more workstations, may then use one or more
graphical user interfaces to display the location of tracked mobile
devices based on the location data sent from the mobile devices. In
an embodiment, the display of tracked mobile devices in a graphical
user interface for a particular user may be based on any configured
mobile device teams and any associated visibility settings.
In an embodiment, systems and methods facilitate the exchange of
messages between field analysts using mobile devices, and between
field analysts and operations analysts using analyst workstations.
Messages may be exchanged using one or more graphical user
interfaces and may generally comprise any combination of text,
multimedia objects, location data, data objects, and other
information. In various embodiments, users may perform additional
operations and data transformations based on information included
in received messages.
In another embodiment, systems and methods facilitate the
formulation of search requests by a user using a mobile device. In
general, search requests may include requests for data objects or
other information stored in the mobile data analysis system,
including information generated by other users. In one embodiment,
mobile device users may use one or more graphical user interfaces
to formulate geosearch requests. In general, a geosearch request is
a search request for data objects or other information that is
associated with a user-specified geographic location or area.
According to some embodiments, systems and methods facilitate the
creation of data objects from received digital images. In one
embodiment, a computing device receives a first digital image file
comprising first image metadata, wherein the first image metadata
includes one or more image properties each having an image property
value. The computing device transforms one or more of the image
property values of the one or more image properties into one or
more particular values. The computing device populates one or more
data object property values of a data object with the one or more
particular values. The computing device stores the data object in a
data repository.
Other embodiments include, without limitation, a non-transitory
computer-readable medium that includes processor-executable
instructions that enable a processing unit to implement one or more
aspects of the disclosed methods as well as a system configured to
implement one or more aspects of the disclosed methods.
2.0 Structural Overview
FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a mobile data analysis system 100
in accordance with an embodiment. A mobile data analysis system 100
generally facilitates the communication and the exchange of data
between one or more mobile devices (e.g., mobile devices 106), one
or more analyst workstations (e.g., analyst workstations 114), and
information stored in one or more data repositories (e.g., data
repositories 110, 118). The example mobile data analysis system 100
is conceptually described herein as comprising a mobile device
system 102 supporting one or more mobile devices 106 and that is
interconnected over a network 112 to an operations center system
104 supporting one or more analyst workstations 114 and other
computing resources; however, the mobile data analysis system 100
represents just one system arrangement and other system
arrangements are possible.
In an embodiment, a mobile device system 102 comprises mobile
devices 106, mobile device server 108, and data repository 110.
Each of mobile devices 106 generally may comprise any mobile
computing device including, without limitation, a smartphone, a
cellular phone, a tablet, a laptop, and a personal digital
assistant (PDA). Each of mobile devices 106 is communicatively
coupled to mobile device server 108 via one or more wireless links
that may include, for example, cellular, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, ZigBee,
microwave, and other wireless network links. For the purposes of
illustrating a clear example, four mobile devices 106 and one
mobile device server 108 are shown in FIG. 1, but practical
implementations may use hundreds or thousands of mobile devices and
any number of mobile devices servers.
In an embodiment, mobile device server 108 may be communicatively
coupled to resources of operations center system 104 via network
112, which broadly represents one or more local area networks, wide
area networks, global interconnected internetworks such as the
public internet, or a combination thereof. Mobile device server 108
generally may be configured to coordinate communication between
mobile devices 106 and resources of operations center system 104
and to access and retrieve data stored in data repository 110. For
example, mobile device server 108 may be configured to relay search
requests, messages, and other data sent from mobile devices 106 to
resources of operations center system 104, and to send information
received from operations center system 104 to the appropriate
mobile devices 106.
In an embodiment, operations center system 104 comprises one or
more analyst workstations 114, application server 116, data
repository 118, and web server 120. One or more components of
operations center system 104 may, for example, be located in a
centralized location that is remote from mobile device system 102
and mobile devices 106.
In an embodiment, analyst workstations 114 comprise one or more
workstation computers, server computers, laptop computers, mobile
devices, or combinations thereof. Analyst workstations 114
generally are configured to support one or more operations analysts
that may request information provided by application server 116
and/or web server 120, send information to application server 116
to be stored in data repository 118, communicate with one or more
field analysts using mobile devices 106, and perform other
operations described herein.
In an embodiment, application server 116 generally is configured to
access and retrieve data stored in data repository 118 in response
to requests from mobile devices 106, mobile device server 108,
analyst workstations 114, and web server 120. Application server
116 may perform data manipulations and other operations in response
to receiving requests to access and/or store data in data
repository 118.
3.0 Architectural and Functional Overview
3.1 Mobile Device System Architecture
FIG. 2 illustrates an example mobile device system architecture
200. In an embodiment, a mobile device system architecture 200
comprises one or more mobile devices 106, mobile device server 108,
and data repository 110.
In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, a mobile device 106, which
may be implemented by one or more physical computing devices, is
communicatively coupled to mobile device server 108, which may be
implemented by one or more second physical computing devices, over
one or more wireless networks. A mobile device 106 comprises a
display 202, graphical user interface (GUI) logic 204, mobile
application logic 206, location sensors 208, and camera 210.
In an embodiment, GUI logic 204 may be a set of program
instructions which, when executed by one or more processors of a
mobile device 106, are operable to receive user input and to
display a graphical representation of one or more graphic
constructs related to the mobile data analysis system approaches
described herein. As an example, a mobile device 106 may be a
smartphone and GUI logic 204 may be operable to receive touch
screen signals and other user input from, and display the graphics
constructs to, a graphical user interface that is provided on
display 202. Touch screen signals may comprise selecting buttons,
holding down buttons, selecting items displayed on the screen,
dragging, or other gestures or selections. In general, GUI logic
204 is configured to receive user input and determine what user
requests or commands are represented by the user input.
In an embodiment, a mobile device 106 includes mobile application
logic 206, which may comprise firmware, hardware, software, or a
combination thereof in various embodiments that is configured to
implement the functions of a mobile data analysis system on a
mobile device as described herein. In one embodiment, mobile
application logic 206 may be implemented as part of an application
program configured to execute on the Android operating system. In
other embodiments, mobile application logic 206 may be implemented
as a combination of programming instructions written in any
programming language (e.g., C++ or Java) and hardware components
(e.g. memory, CPU time) that have been allocated for executing the
program instructions on a mobile device 106.
In an embodiment, location sensors 208 generally represent any
sensors which may be used to determine information associated with
a geographic location, spatial orientation, device movement, or any
other information associated with the physical presence of a mobile
device 106, and which may be referred to herein as location data.
Location data may include, for example, latitudinal and
longitudinal coordinates, elevation measures, cardinal direction
information, movement information, etc. For example, location
sensors 208 may comprise a Global Positioning System (GPS)
component, motion sensors (e.g., an accelerometer), rotation
sensors (e.g., a gyroscope), a compass, and a magnetometer. In an
embodiment, mobile application logic 206 is operable to receive
location data from location sensors 208 and to send the location
data to a mobile device server 108, which in turn may send the
location data to resources of operations center system 104. The
receiving and sending of location data by mobile application logic
206 may be performed periodically, at user configured intervals, or
based on any other schedule.
In an embodiment, camera 210 generally represents any component
capable of capturing multimedia information such as images, video,
and sound. Camera 210 may be integrated into a mobile device 106 or
may be an external device communicatively coupled to a mobile
device 106.
In an embodiment, mobile device server 108 comprises mobile device
security logic 212 and repository access logic 214.
In an embodiment, mobile device security logic 212 provides
processes for controlling access to the mobile data analysis system
by mobile devices. For example, access by mobile devices 106 to
mobile device server 108, and via mobile device server 108 to
resources of operations center system 104 over network 112, may be
restricted and/or secured. As such, access by a mobile device user
to a mobile device 106 and/or mobile device server 108 may be based
on the user supplying an authorized mobile device user account and
associated passwords, secret questions, personal identification
numbers (PINs), biometrics, and/or any other suitable
authentication mechanism. Mobile device security logic 212 comprise
a set of program instructions configured to process mobile device
user login requests sent from a mobile device 106.
In one embodiment, user access to a mobile device 106, mobile
device server 108, and one or more of the resources of operations
center system 104 may be protected by separate authentication
mechanisms. In another embodiment, mobile device security logic 212
may be configured to implement a Single Sign-On (SSO) access
control system in order to provide a single point of authentication
for mobile device users. An SSO access control system generally
enables a system resource, such as mobile device server 108, to
process access credentials supplied by a mobile device user and, if
a successful login occurs, to grant an authenticated user account
access to resources located on other system resources, such as the
resources of operations center system 104, and without the mobile
user manually authenticating with the other systems.
In an embodiment, communication between mobile devices 106, mobile
device server 108, and resources in operations center system 104
may be secured using a cryptographic communication protocol such
as, for example, the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol. For
example, each of mobile devices 106 may be configured for secure
communications by installing a public key security certificate on
the mobile devices and a corresponding private key security
certificate on mobile device server 108 and resources of operations
center system 104. Mobile device security logic 212 may comprise
instructions configured to send and receive encrypted network
traffic based on the installed security certificates, whereby the
mobile device security logic 212 encodes outgoing data with the
public key security certificate, and mobile devices server 108
and/or resources of operations center system 104 decode received
data with the installed private key security certificates.
In an embodiment, mobile device security logic 212 may comprise
program instructions configured to restrict mobile device access to
mobile device server 108 based on a whitelist of authorized mobile
devices. A mobile device whitelist may be configured by a mobile
data analysis system administrator and may include, for example,
one or more entries that specify a unique identifier associated
with approved mobile devices. The unique identifier may be, for
example, a device serial number, an international mobile equipment
identity (IMEI) number, a MAC address, or any other identifier that
may be transmitted by a mobile device 106 to mobile device server
108. In an embodiment, mobile device security logic 212 may be
configured to cause mobile device server 108 to ignore requests
that are sent from a mobile device that does not supply an
identifier on the whitelist. A mobile device whitelist may be
stored in a database, a spreadsheet, or any other suitable format
for storage in a data repository such as data repository 110.
In an embodiment, mobile device server 108 comprises repository
access logic 214. Repository access logic 214 may comprise a set of
instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, are
operable to access and retrieve data from data repository 118. For
example, repository access logic may be a database client or an
Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) client that supports calls to a
database server that manages data repository 118.
In an embodiment, data repository 110 generally represents any data
storage device (e.g., local memory on mobile device server 108,
shared memory, a database, etc.) known in the art which may be
configured to store data. In an embodiment, data repository 110 may
store, for example, configuration files, security information, and
other data associated with mobile devices 106. In some embodiments,
data stored in data repository 110 may be accessed by mobile device
server 108 in order to avoid sending requests for the same
information to resources of operations center system 104.
3.2 Operations Center System Architecture
FIG. 3 illustrates an example operations center architecture 300.
In an embodiment, operations center architecture 300 comprises
application server 116, web server 120, and one or more analyst
workstations, such as analyst workstation 114.
In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, analyst workstation 114,
which may be implemented by one or more physical computing devices,
is communicatively connected to application server 116 and web
server 120, which may be implemented by one or more other physical
computing devices, over a network. In some embodiments, each such
physical computing device may be implemented as a separate computer
system. For example, analyst workstation 114 may be implemented in
a computer system as a set of program instructions recorded on a
machine-readable storage medium, while application server 116 and
web server 120 may be implemented in different computer
systems.
Analyst workstation 114 comprises graphical user interface (GUI)
logic 304. GUI logic 304 may be a set of program instructions
which, when executed by one or more processors of the computer
system, are operable to receive user input and display a graphical
representation of one or more graphic constructs related to the
mobile data analysis approaches described herein. GUI logic 304 may
be operable to receive user input from, and display the graphic
constructs to, a graphical user interface that is provided on
display 302 by the computer system on which analyst workstation 114
executes.
Analyst workstation 114 may also interact with application server
116 to provide input, definition, editing instructions, and
expressions related to a mobile data analysis system as described
herein using a programmatic interface, and then the application
server 116 may use, process, log, store, or otherwise interact with
the received input according to application server logic.
In an embodiment, web server 120 is configured to provide one or
more web-based interfaces to resources available from application
server 116 and data repository 118. As an example, one or more of
mobile devices 106 may comprise a browser that can access HTML
documents that web server 120 generates. The web pages may include
information about data stored in data repository 118. In other
embodiments, web server 120 may use formats other than HTML for
transmitting information to requesting devices.
In an embodiment, application server 116 may be implemented as a
special-purpose computer system having the logical elements shown
in FIG. 3. In an embodiment, the logical elements may comprise
program instructions recorded on one or more machine-readable
storage media. Alternatively, the logical elements may be
implemented in hardware, firmware, or a combination.
When executed by one or more processors of the computer system,
logic in application server 116 is operable to perform mobile data
analysis system operations according to the techniques described
herein. In one embodiment, logic in application server 116 may be
implemented in a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) that is executing in a
distributed or non-distributed computer system. In other
embodiments, logic in application server 116 may be implemented as
a combination of programming instructions written in any
programming language (e.g., C++ or Visual Basic) and hardware
components (e.g., memory, CPU time) that have been allocated for
executing the program instructions.
In an embodiment, application server 116 comprises repository
access logic 314. Repository access logic 314 may comprise a set of
instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, are
operable to access and retrieve data from data repository 118.
In an embodiment, data repository 118 may be a type of structured
storage for storing data including, but not limited to, relational
or object-oriented databases, data warehouses, directories, data
files, and any other structured data storage. In one embodiment,
data repository 118 is implemented as a revisioning database system
configured to track changes made to data stored in the data
repository. In an embodiment, a revisioning database system records
metadata about changes to stored data, facilitates UNDO and REDO
operations of data changes, can receive requests to subscribe to
particular data and publish updates to such data for delivery to
subscribers, and perform other functions.
In an embodiment, data stored in data repository 118 is
conceptually structured according to an object-centric data model,
the data model consisting of a collection of data objects. For
example, a data object in the data model may represent an entity
such as a person, a place, an organization, an event, a document,
or a digital media item such as audio or video. A data object may
have a type (e.g., Person, Event, Organization) and include any
number of data property fields and corresponding data property
values. For example, Event data objects may have data property
fields for storing information associated with a particular events
represented by the data objects such as, for example, a date and
time of an event, a location of an event, etc.
In one embodiment, data objects in the data model may be
represented as a data object graph consisting of nodes and edges.
The nodes of the graph may represent data objects and the edges may
represent relationships or other links between data objects. For
example, a particular person, represented by a Person data object,
may be known to have an affiliation with a particular organization,
represented by an Organization data object. The relationship
between the person and the organization may be represented by an
edge in the data object graph between the Person data object and
the Organization data object. An edge between two data object nodes
may be represented and stored in various embodiments as a data
object property value of one or more of the connected nodes, or as
a separate data entity.
In an embodiment, application server 116 comprises mobile
application base logic 306. Mobile application base logic 306
generally includes logic implementing mobile data analysis system
operations that may be requested by an analyst workstation 114 and
mobile devices 106 and comprises mobile helper logic 308 and
geosearch logic 310.
In an embodiment, mobile helper logic 308 provides processes for
assisting users to observe the location of one or more mobile
devices on a map display. Mobile helper logic mobile device
security logic 212 may comprise program instructions operable to
receive and store locational and other data sent from mobile
devices and to provide locational and other data in response to
requests. The data received, stored, and sent may further include
metadata. Mobile helper logic 308 may further comprise logic
operable to transmit messages sent from mobile device and analyst
workstation users, perform data object searches, and other
functionality described herein.
In an embodiment, geosearch logic 310 provides processes for
handling geosearch requests sent from a mobile device and analyst
workstation users. In general, a geosearch request is a search
request for data objects or other information that is associated
with one or more specified geographic locations or areas. Examples
of processing geo search requests are described in a separate
section herein.
3.3 Configuring Mobile Device Teams
For the purposes of clearly illustrating how the functions
described herein operate, the following sections describe example
graphical user interface displays for the described mobile data
analysis system features. However, the graphical user interface
displays described herein represent only selected examples of
visualizations for the mobile data analysis system operations that
are described herein. Thus, the disclosure broadly encompasses any
methods of operating a mobile analysis system that are described
herein.
Further, no particular graphical user interface is required and the
disclosure is intended to encompass processing approaches for a
mobile analysis system that are described independent of any
graphical user interface, and it is not intended to be limited to
any particular graphical user interface or other form of display.
For example, the example graphical user interfaces merely represent
one way for an analyst workstation user to view the location of one
or more mobile devices on a map, to send and receive messages on a
mobile device, and to view images received from a mobile device at
an analyst workstation; in other embodiments, programmatic methods
may be used to obtain the same information and other forms of data
output may be used such as logging, reporting, storing in database
tables, storing in spreadsheets, etc.
In an embodiment, mobile device user accounts of a mobile data
analysis system may be grouped into one or more mobile device
teams. In this context, mobile device user accounts may comprise
information associated with a particular user in the mobile data
analysis system including, for example, a user name, passwords, and
other user settings, and enable users to authenticate with the
mobile data analysis system. For example, a field analyst may
provide an assigned user name and password at a mobile device in
order to be granted access to use the resources of the mobile data
analysis system from the mobile device. A mobile device team is a
logical grouping of one or more mobile device accounts, and by
extension the mobile device users associated with the mobile device
user accounts. A mobile device team may be based on organizational,
operational, or any other characteristics that define one or more
groupings of users within an organization. For example, a law
enforcement agency may group mobile device user accounts that have
been created for police officers in the agency into one or more
mobile device teams based on geographic areas of responsibility,
organization roles (e.g., special weapons and tactics, bomb squad,
K-9 unit, etc.), security access levels, or other such
groupings.
In an embodiment, mobile device teams may be associated with one or
more visibility settings. Visibility settings for a particular
mobile device team may control which other users are able to view
information associated with the particular mobile device team
including associated location data, messages, and other
team-centric information. FIG. 4 illustrates an example process
flow 400 for generating one or more mobile device teams and mobile
device team visibility settings. In an embodiment, one or more of
the steps below may be omitted, repeated, or performed in a
different order. The specific arrangement shown in FIG. 4 is not
required.
In Step 402, one or more mobile device user accounts are generated.
For example, a separate mobile device user account may be generated
for each field analyst in an organization using an approved mobile
device in the mobile data analysis system. In an embodiment, an
input mechanism is provided for a system administrator or other
user to enter commands for the purposes of generating mobile device
user accounts. Here, the term "input mechanism" includes either a
command line interaction mechanism or a graphical user interface
based interaction mechanism, or a combination of the preceding two.
For example, a command may be issued by a user at an analyst work
station 114 and received by application server 116 and, in
response, application server 116 may generate and store the one or
more mobile device user accounts in a repository, such as data
repository 118. In another embodiment, mobile device user account
information for one or more mobile device user accounts may be
received by an application server in the form of an account
configuration file, for example, in an XML file or other structured
document format.
In Step 404, a first mobile device team and a second mobile device
team are generated. For example, an authorized user using an
analyst workstation may issue one or more additional commands to
create two new mobile device teams. The user may associate a label
for each of the new teams, for example, the first mobile device
team may be labeled the "Green" team and the second mobile device
team may be labeled the "Blue" team. The mobile device team labels
may be used for the purposes of identifying a mobile device team in
other graphical user interfaces of the mobile device system. For
the purposes of illustrating a clear example, only two mobile
device teams are generated; however, in other embodiments any
number of mobile device teams may be generated.
In Step 406, one or more of the mobile device user accounts are
assigned to the first mobile device team and one or more of the
mobile device user accounts are assigned to the second mobile
device team. For example, a user may issue a command that specifies
one or more of the generated mobile device user accounts and a
mobile device team, the command indicating that the specified
mobile device user accounts are to be assigned to the specified
mobile device team. In an embodiment, a particular mobile device
user account may be assigned to any number of different mobile
device teams. The mobile device user account information and mobile
device team information may be stored in one or more configuration
files, database tables, or in any other suitable format in a data
repository, such as data repository 118.
In Step 408, one or more mobile device team visibility settings are
received. In this context, mobile device team visibility settings
comprise one or more configuration settings indicating whether
mobile device user accounts of particular mobile device teams are
permitted access to view information associated with mobile device
user accounts of other mobile device teams. For example, visibility
settings may be used to manage a mobile device user's ability to
view other mobile device user accounts and associated locational
data on map displays, to send messages to other mobile device user
accounts, and access other data associated with other mobile device
user accounts. As used herein, indicating that first mobile device
team is visible to a second mobile device team means that mobile
device users of the second mobile device team are permitted to
access and view information associated with mobile device user
accounts of the first mobile device team.
In an embodiment, mobile device team visibility settings may be
received by an application server as commands input by a user.
Using the example mobile device teams Green and Blue generated
above, a user may issue a first command that specifies that the
Blue mobile team is visible to the Green mobile device team. The
user may issue a second command that specifies that the Green
mobile device team is not visible to the Blue mobile device team.
As a result, mobile device user accounts associated with the Green
mobile device team may be able to access and view information about
mobile device user accounts associated with the Blue mobile device
team. In contrast, mobile device user accounts associated with the
Blue mobile device team may be prevented from viewing information
associated with the Green mobile device team. In an embodiment,
mobile device team visibility settings may also be configured on an
individual mobile device user account basis. For example, a user
may issue a command indicating that a particular mobile device team
is or is not visible to a particular mobile device user
account.
In Step 410, mobile device team visibility settings are stored in
association with the first mobile device team and the second mobile
device team, for example, in data repository 118.
3.4 Mobile Device Tracking
In one embodiment, a mobile data analysis system is configured to
track the location and movement of one or more mobile devices and,
by extension, the mobile device users using the tracked mobile
devices. Tracking the location of mobile devices may be of interest
to both mobile device users (e.g., field analysts) using the
tracked mobile devices, and to analyst workstation users (e.g.,
operations analysts) that may be coordinating the activities of the
mobile device users. As such, logic in both mobile devices 106 and
analyst workstations 114 may be configured to receive and display
location data associated with one or more tracked mobile
devices.
FIG. 5 illustrates an example graphical user interface of a mobile
device that is configured to display a location of one or more
mobile devices. In an embodiment, GUI 500 comprises a mobile device
user information panel 502 and a map display 506.
In an embodiment, map display 506 displays a portion of an
interactive map including user location icons 504, 508. User
location icons 504, 508 indicate an approximate location of two
tracked mobile devices associated with mobile device user account
indicated by the labels Brown and Smith. Although the example map
display 506 displays two user location icons, map display 506 may
display any number of mobile device user icons depending on the
user's visibility settings, and the number of tracked mobile
devices present in the displayed map area at the current map zoom
level.
In an embodiment, information panel 502 comprises information
related a mobile device user account associated with a currently
selected mobile device in map display 506. In the current example,
information panel 502 displays information associated with a mobile
device user "Brown." The information about mobile device user Brown
may be displayed, for instance, in response to a user indicating
input selecting user location icon 508 on map display 506
representing mobile device user Brown, selecting the mobile device
user's name from a list, typing the mobile device user name into a
search box, inputting a voice command, or otherwise indicating a
selection of the mobile device user Brown. For example, a different
mobile device and mobile device user account may be selected by
indicating input selecting another user location icon that is
visible on map display 506, such as user location icon 504
representing mobile device user Smith.
Information panel 502 includes additional information about mobile
device user Brown, including "last update" information indicating
that mobile device user Brown is assigned to a mobile device team
identified by the team name "Red." Information panel 502 further
provides information indicating how recently location data was
received by a mobile device server from the mobile device
associated with mobile device user Brown. In this manner, the last
update information may provide an indication of the accuracy of the
displayed location for a selected mobile device.
In an embodiment, visibility setting information may determine
which mobile device teams and mobile device users a particular user
is able to view in GUI 500. For example, a user may be using a
mobile device and logged in with a particular mobile device user
account. The mobile device may send a request for location data of
other mobile devices to mobile device server 108 or application
server 116 in order to display the location data on map display
506. In response to receiving a request for location data of other
mobile devices from the mobile device, mobile device server 108
and/or application server 116 may determine a set of mobile device
teams and mobile device users accounts that the requesting mobile
device user account has access to view based on mobile device user
account visibility settings stored in data repository 118. Mobile
device server 108 and/or application server 116 may send back
location data for those mobile device teams and mobile device user
accounts for which the visibility settings permit access. In this
manner, map display 506 may display a user location icon for those
mobile devices for which a user has visibility access, and not for
those mobile devices for which visibility access has not been
granted.
FIG. 6 illustrates an example graphical user interface of an
analyst workstation that is configured to display a location of one
or more mobile devices. GUI 600 comprises an assets list 602,
mobile device team user lists 604, map display 606, and interface
components 610. In an embodiment, GUI 600 generally is configured
to display a location associated with one or more mobile device
users on a map and the movement of those mobile device users. For
example, as a particular mobile device user changes locations, the
user's mobile device periodically sends updated location data of
the mobile device to a mobile device server and/or application
server. The mobile device server and/or application server may then
send the updated location data to one or more mobile devices
tracking the location of the particular user's mobile device. A map
display 606 of the one of the mobile devices receiving the updated
location data may be updated based on the received location data.
For example, an icon may be displayed on the map for the particular
user at an approximate location based on geographic coordinates or
other location information included in the received location
data.
In an embodiment, assets list 602 displays a list of mobile device
teams and mobile device users that the user may view on map display
606. Each of the mobile device team user lists 604 in assets list
602 is configured to display the mobile device user accounts
associated with the mobile device team. In an embodiment, the
mobile device team user lists 604 shown in assets list 602 may be
based on visibility settings stored in data repository 118. Assets
list 602 may provide interface elements that enable a user to
selectively hide or show particular mobile device teams on the map
depending on the user's preferences.
In an embodiment, map display 606 displays one or more user
location icons, such as user location icons 608, at a location most
recently reported by the associated mobile devices. In the current
example, user location icons 608 may correspond to the last known
location of the mobile devices associated with the Red mobile
device team, as indicated by the matching circle icons in assets
list 602 and map display 606. In an embodiment, map display 606 may
display information related to an estimated accuracy of the display
location data associated with each tracked mobile device user. For
example, if a particular mobile device fails to report location
data within a specified period of time, an icon of the associated
with mobile device user may change in assets list 602 and map
display 606, for example, turning from green to yellow to red, and
may further provide information indicating the lag time.
In an embodiment, map display 606 may be configured to select an
appropriate map centering location and zoom level based on the
mobile teams the user has visibility access to and/or teams
currently selected from assets list 602. For example, map display
606 may display a map area that is large enough so that each of the
selected mobile device team users in assets list 602 is displayed
in the map area. An appropriate map zoom level may be determined,
for example, by analyzing the location data (e.g., geographic
coordinates) to determine a location associated with each of the
mobile device user accounts to be displayed and selecting a map
centering location and zoom level that includes each of the
associated locations. For example, if a first mobile device team
includes mobile device user accounts that are located in
California, and a second mobile device team includes mobile device
user accounts in New York, map display 606 may center on a location
between California and New York and display a zoom level that is
large enough to simultaneously display the mobile device users in
both California and New York.
In FIG. 6, for example, the map currently is zoomed to display an
area that includes user location icons for each of the mobile
device teams and mobile device user accounts listed in asset list
602. If one or more of the currently displayed user accounts moves
to an area that is outside of the currently displayed map view, a
mobile device generating map display 606 may be configured to
re-center or adjust the zoom level so as to maintain a display view
of all selected mobile device teams. As another example, if a user
selects one or more additional mobile device teams for viewing in
assets list 602, or indicates input hiding one or more of the
mobile device teams in assets list 602, map display 606 may be
configured to re-center or adjust the zoom level so as to display
all selected mobile device teams.
Interface components 610 may enable a user to adjust the current
view of map display 606, for example, by zooming in or out,
panning, annotating the display, or selecting particular mobile
device users or teams to track.
3.5 Mobile Device Messaging
In an embodiment, mobile devices and analyst workstations of the
mobile data analysis system may include logic operable to enable
field analysts and operations analysts to exchange messages. In
general, a message in the mobile data analysis system may comprise,
without limitation, any combination of text, images, video,
hyperlinks and other markup, other messages, and data objects. FIG.
7 illustrates a GUI 700 of a mobile device that is configured to
enable messaging.
GUI 700 comprises messages 702, message input box 704, and message
send button 706. In an embodiment, messages 702 provide a
transcript of messages that a user of the mobile device has
previously sent and received. Each of messages 702 may include
information such as, for example, the message content, the name of
the user that generated the message, and a timestamp indicating
when the message was sent or received. In the current example,
messages 702 depict a text conversation between mobile device user
accounts labeled as Brown and Smith.
In an embodiment, to send a new message, a user may input message
content into message input box 704. A user may input information
into message input box 704 including text, multimedia content, and
data objects stored on a data repository, or new multimedia content
generated by the user using, for example, a camera 210 or voice
input.
In an embodiment, selection of the send button 706 may cause
message content from message input box 704 to be sent to one or
more mobile devices, broadcast to one or more mobile device teams,
and/or sent to one or more analyst workstations.
FIG. 8A, FIG. 8B illustrate GUIs 800, 802 that may be implemented
on a mobile device for sending multimedia content, such as a
digital image, in a message, according to an embodiment. GUI 800
comprises new photo button 804 and image gallery button 806.
A user may select new photo button 804, for example, in order to
capture a new digital image using the mobile device using a camera
210. In another embodiment, a mobile device user may select one or
more images previously captured and stored on the mobile device by
selecting image gallery button 806. Once image gallery button 806
has been selected, for example, a user may be prompted to select
one or more digital images stored on the mobile device. The image
may also be selected from a data object stored on the data
repository.
GUI 808 illustrates a graphical user interface configured to enable
a user to send and receive messages including a digital image. GUI
808 includes, for example, a message 810 sent by user Smith. In the
example, message 810 comprises a digital image 812 that may have
been previously captured by user Smith and attached to message 810.
For example, a user may attach a digital image, possibly associated
with a data object, to a message using text input box 814 or any
other input mechanisms.
3.6 Creating Data Objects from Images
In an embodiment, an operations analyst or other user may desire to
create a data object from a digital image captured by a field
analyst or other user using a mobile device. FIG. 9 illustrates an
example process flow 900 for creating data objects from one or more
digital images. In an embodiment, one or more of the steps below
may be omitted, repeated, or performed in a different order. The
specific arrangement shown in FIG. 9 is not required.
In Step 902, a computing device receives a digital image comprising
image metadata. For example, the computing device may be an analyst
workstation and the digital image may be sent to the analyst
workstation from a mobile device via a network, such as network
112. The digital image may be sent from a mobile device to an
analyst workstation as part of a message, attached to an email, as
a direct upload, or using any other mechanism of transmitting a
digital image. For example, a field analyst using a mobile device
may capture an image of a person of interest or a particular
location and send the captured image to an analyst workstation in a
multimedia message, as described above. In other embodiments, the
digital image may be received by querying a stored collection of
digital images in a data repository, such as data repository
118.
In an embodiment, a digital image received by the computing device
comprises image metadata. The image metadata generally may comprise
information about the digital image and include one or more image
properties each having an image property value. For example, the
image properties may include, without limitation, date and time
information, location information, camera manufacturer and camera
model number, compression format, camera settings (e.g., exposure
time, f-number, etc.), image thumbnails, and mobile device user
information. The image metadata may be generated by a camera or
mobile device when the digital image is captured and may be stored,
for example, as part of a file representing the digital image or
stored in a separate metadata file. In one embodiment, the image
metadata may comprise data conforming to the exchangeable image
file format (EXIF) standard.
In Step 904, the computing device transforms one or more of the
image property values of the one or more image properties into one
or more particular values. In an embodiment, transforming the one
or more image property values may include, for example, reading the
image metadata and extracting one or more image property values
from the image metadata. Transforming may further comprise
reformatting, converting units, combining values, or any other data
transformations to one or more of the image property values. For
example, transforming may include converting values representing a
date and time in one format into another format suitable for
storage in a data object of the mobile data analysis system.
In Step 906, one or more data object property values of a data
object are populated with the one or more particular values. In an
embodiment, the data object may represent a newly generated data
object, or a data object already existing in the mobile data
analysis system. Populating the one or more data object property
values generally may include assigning the transformed particular
values to corresponding data object property fields. For example, a
particular data object property field may store a value indicating
a geographical location and the particular data object property
field may be assigned a value obtained from the image metadata
indicating a geographical location where the digital image was
captured.
In an embodiment, the populated data object may be associated with
a particular data object type. For example, default settings may
associate the data object with an Event data object type. Depending
on the data object type, particular data object property fields may
or may not be associated with the data object. For example, a data
object of type Event may have a property field indicating an event
time, whereas a data object of type Person may not. In an
embodiment, a user may change the default data object type and/or
modify the data object type currently associated with a particular
data object. For example, a data object of type Event may be
created from a digital image of an individual, and a user may
desire that the data object be changed to a Person type. The user
may specify input modifying the data object type to type Person,
for example, using one or more graphical user interfaces described
herein. Data objects created generally may be associated with any
data object types defined in the mobile data analysis system and
may include, for example, an event type, a person type, an
organization type, a location type, an entity type, and an item
type.
In an embodiment, creating a data object from a digital image may
further comprise generating one or more links to one or more other
existing data objects of a data object graph stored in a data
repository, such as data repository 118. For example, using the
steps described above in FIG. 9, a data object of type Person may
be created from an image depicting an individual known to be
affiliated with a particular organization. The particular
organization may, for example, be represented by an Organization
data object as part of a data object graph stored in data
repository 118. An operations analyst or other user may desire to
associate the created Person data object with the existing
Organization data object in the data object graph. Accordingly, the
user may specify input indicating an association between the two
data objects, and as a result one or more links may be generated
from the Person data object to the Organization data object and the
links may be stored in the data repository. For example, the links
may be stored as one or more data object property fields of the
Person data object and/or Organization data object, or stored as
separate link data entities. In one embodiment, the links between
the created data object and other existing data objects may be
specified by a mobile device user. For example, the mobile device
user may specify the links as part of a message that includes the
digital image from which the data object is created.
In one embodiment, a data object may be created from two or more
digital images. For example, an analyst workstation may receive
multiple images from one or more mobile devices that depict the
same individual. An operations analyst using the analyst
workstation may desire to create a single data object based on the
multiple images. In an embodiment, transforming one or more image
property values into one or more particular values further
comprises generating summary information based on image metadata of
the two or more digital images. For example, the metadata of each
of the two or more digital images may include a property value
indicating a location where the digital image was captured. In one
embodiment, transforming the metadata image property values into
particular values may include generating a particular location
value, the particular location value derived from an average of the
location values of the metadata for each of the digital images.
In Step 908, the data object is stored in a data repository. For
example, the data object may be stored in a data repository such as
repository 118 and made accessible to other field analysts and
operations analysts using mobile devices 106 and analyst
workstations 114 for further data manipulations.
In some embodiments, creating a data object from a digital image
may be performed in response to a user selecting an image for
processing, for example, using a GUI 1000 as shown in FIG. 10. GUI
1000 includes an image gallery 1002, a selected image display 1006,
a map display 1008, and a data object creation button 1010. For
example, GUI 1000 may be used by an operations analyst to view
digital images at an analyst workstation that have been received
from one or more mobile devices and/or from other sources, and to
create data objects from the received digital images.
Image gallery 1002 displays a selection of digital images received
by a computing device generating GUI 1000. Digital images displayed
in the image gallery 1002 may be filtered and/or sorted to display
those images most relevant to a user's interests. For example, GUI
1000 may provide input mechanisms that enable a user to filter the
displayed digital images to those uploaded by one or more
particular mobile device user accounts or by one or more particular
mobile device teams. Digital images displayed in image gallery 1002
may also be sorted by other criteria, for example, by the date and
time the digital images were captured, the date and time the images
were uploaded, a location associated with the digital images, or
any other desirable sorting order.
In an embodiment, a user may select one or more digital images
displayed in image gallery 1002 and in response GUI 1000 may
provide additional information related to the selected digital
images in selected image display 1006 and map display 1008. For
example, a digital image selected in image gallery 1002 may be
displayed in selected image display 1006 in a larger or higher
resolution format. In the present example, Photo 1 from the image
gallery 1002 is selected, as indicated by the bolded outline of the
image, and an enlarged display of Photo 1 is shown in selected
image display 1006.
Map display 1008 includes a map that may display geographic
information associated with a selected digital image from image
gallery 1002. For example, map display 1008 may that include an
icon representing a geographic location where a selected image was
captured. For example, a geographic location where one or more
selected images were captured may be determined based on
information in the associated image metadata for each selected
image. If multiple digital images are selected in image gallery
1002, map display 1008 may display multiple icons representing a
geographic location associated with each of the selected images.
Map display 1008 may be further configured to zoom to an area of
the map that includes the location associated with each of the
selected images.
In an embodiment, GUI 1000 includes a data object creation button
1010 which, when selected, may cause performance of one or more
steps of creating a data object from the currently selected digital
images, as described above in further detail with reference to FIG.
9.
In some embodiments, GUI 1100 of FIG. 11 may be optionally used to
modify information or supply additional information related to a
data object created from a digital image. FIG. 11 comprises data
object list 1102, data object information panel 1104, and data
object property interface elements 1106.
Data object list 1102 displays a list of selectable data objects
stored in the mobile data analysis system. The data objects listed
in data object list 1102 may include, for example, data objects
created during a current user session, or data objects previously
created by the user and retrieved from a data repository. The data
objects displayed in data object list 1102 may be filtered and
stored based on object type, a title associated with object, a user
associated with the object, or any other criteria.
Data object information panel 1104 includes information associated
with a currently selected data object from data object list 1102.
As depicted, data object information panel 1104 displays
information for an Event data object labeled "Suspect sighting."
Information displayed in data object information panel 1104
includes a display of a digital image associated with the selected
data object, information about other related data objects,
information about a user that created the data object, when the
data object was created, and a location associated with the data
object.
Interface elements 1106 are selectable to facilitate modification
of the property values of a currently selected data object. For
example, object type selector 1108 is a pull-down menu that allows
a user to select between different object types that are defined in
the mobile data analysis system. Users may modify other data object
properties using the interface elements including a label of the
data object, date and time information, location information, and
data object link information. The interface elements 1106 may
depend on the data object type for the selected data object and the
particular data object property fields associated with the data
object type.
3.7 Mobile Device Search
In an embodiment, mobile device users may search for data objects
and other information stored in a centralized data repository, such
as data repository 118. For example, a field analyst may desire to
search for stored data objects to acquire information about the
field analyst's current activities. The field analyst may, for
example, be interviewing an individual in the field and desire to
know if any information previously has been collected about the
individual and stored in the data repository. In an embodiment, the
field analyst may specify a search request for information about
the individual using a mobile device 106 and the mobile device may
send the search request to application server 116 via mobile device
server 108. In an embodiment, a mobile device user may specify a
search request, for example, by inputting one or more search terms
or using a voice command.
In response to receiving a search request from a mobile device,
application server 116 may retrieve one or more data object results
from data repository 118 that are relevant to the search request.
For example, application server 116 may locate data objects in data
repository 118 that include one or more of the specified search
terms. Application server 116 may send the resulting data objects
or other information to the requesting mobile device for display on
the mobile device.
In one embodiment, mobile device users may specify geosearch
requests using a mobile device. In general, a geosearch request is
a search request for data objects that are associated with a
specified geographic location or area. FIG. 12 illustrates an
example GUI 1200 of a mobile device that is configured to enable
users to specify a geo search request.
In an embodiment, GUI 1200 comprises search button 1202 which, when
selected, may be configured to enable a user to specify a geosearch
request. In one embodiment, mobile device users may specify a
geosearch request using map display 1204. For example, a user may
specify on map display 1204 a geographic bounding area of interest
for the geo search request. In the current example, bounding area
1206 illustrates an example bounding area for a geosearch request.
In the example, the bounding area is depicted as a circle, but
other bounding area shapes may be used. The specified geographic
bounding area may be used to transmit as part of the geosearch
request a set of geographic coordinates or other information that
enables application server 116 to determine a geographic area
within to search. A geo search request may include other parameters
including a time span desired for result data objects. For example,
a user may desire that only Event data objects associated with an
event that occurred in the past week be returned.
In response to receiving a geo search request, application server
116 may determine one or more result data objects in data
repository 118 that include location data specifying one or more
locations that are within the bounding area specified by the
geosearch request. Application server 116 may send the result data
objects to the requesting mobile device and the mobile device may
display the result data objects on map display 1204. For example,
event data object icon 1208 illustrates an example geosearch result
data object for a geosearch request specified by bounding area
1206. Event data object icon 1208 may be displayed at a location on
the map based on location data stored in association with the data
object result corresponding to the displayed icon. In an
embodiment, a user may select one or more of the data object result
icons on map display 1204 in order to view additional information
associated with the data object.
4.0 Implementation Mechanisms--Hardware Overview
According to one embodiment, the techniques described herein are
implemented by one or more special-purpose computing devices. The
special-purpose computing devices may be hard-wired to perform the
techniques, or may include digital electronic devices such as one
or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or field
programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) that are persistently programmed
to perform the techniques, or may include one or more general
purpose hardware processors programmed to perform the techniques
pursuant to program instructions in firmware, memory, other
storage, or a combination. Such special-purpose computing devices
may also combine custom hard-wired logic, ASICs, or FPGAs with
custom programming to accomplish the techniques. The
special-purpose computing devices may be desktop computer systems,
portable computer systems, handheld devices, networking devices or
any other device that incorporates hard-wired and/or program logic
to implement the techniques.
For example, FIG. 13 is a block diagram that illustrates a computer
system 1300 upon which an embodiment may be implemented. Computer
system 1300 includes a bus 1302 or other communication mechanism
for communicating information, and a hardware processor 1304
coupled with bus 1302 for processing information. Hardware
processor 1304 may be, for example, a general purpose
microprocessor.
Computer system 1300 also includes a main memory 1306, such as a
random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic storage device, coupled
to bus 1302 for storing information and instructions to be executed
by processor 1304. Main memory 1306 also may be used for storing
temporary variables or other intermediate information during
execution of instructions to be executed by processor 1304. Such
instructions, when stored in non-transitory storage media
accessible to processor 1304, render computer system 1300 into a
special-purpose machine that is customized to perform the
operations specified in the instructions.
Computer system 1300 further includes a read only memory (ROM) 1308
or other static storage device coupled to bus 1302 for storing
static information and instructions for processor 1304. A storage
device 1310, such as a magnetic disk, optical disk, or solid-state
drive is provided and coupled to bus 1302 for storing information
and instructions.
Computer system 1300 may be coupled via bus 1302 to a display 1312,
such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), for displaying information to a
computer user. An input device 1314, including alphanumeric and
other keys, is coupled to bus 1302 for communicating information
and command selections to processor 1304. Another type of user
input device is cursor control 1316, such as a mouse, a trackball,
or cursor direction keys for communicating direction information
and command selections to processor 1304 and for controlling cursor
movement on display 1312. This input device typically has two
degrees of freedom in two axes, a first axis (e.g., x) and a second
axis (e.g., y), that allows the device to specify positions in a
plane.
Computer system 1300 may implement the techniques described herein
using customized hard-wired logic, one or more ASICs or FPGAs,
firmware and/or program logic which in combination with the
computer system causes or programs computer system 1300 to be a
special-purpose machine. According to one embodiment, the
techniques herein are performed by computer system 1300 in response
to processor 1304 executing one or more sequences of one or more
instructions contained in main memory 1306. Such instructions may
be read into main memory 1306 from another storage medium, such as
storage device 1310. Execution of the sequences of instructions
contained in main memory 1306 causes processor 1304 to perform the
process steps described herein. In alternative embodiments,
hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with
software instructions.
The term "storage media" as used herein refers to any
non-transitory media that store data and/or instructions that cause
a machine to operate in a specific fashion. Such storage media may
comprise non-volatile media and/or volatile media. Non-volatile
media includes, for example, optical disks, magnetic disks, or
solid-state drives, such as storage device 1310. Volatile media
includes dynamic memory, such as main memory 1306. Common forms of
storage media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk,
hard disk, solid-state drive, magnetic tape, or any other magnetic
data storage medium, a CD-ROM, any other optical data storage
medium, any physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM,
and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, NVRAM, any other memory chip or
cartridge.
Storage media is distinct from but may be used in conjunction with
transmission media. Transmission media participates in transferring
information between storage media. For example, transmission media
includes coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, including
the wires that comprise bus 1302. Transmission media can also take
the form of acoustic or light waves, such as those generated during
radio-wave and infra-red data communications.
Various forms of media may be involved in carrying one or more
sequences of one or more instructions to processor 1304 for
execution. For example, the instructions may initially be carried
on a magnetic disk or solid-state drive of a remote computer. The
remote computer can load the instructions into its dynamic memory
and send the instructions over a telephone line using a modem. A
modem local to computer system 1300 can receive the data on the
telephone line and use an infra-red transmitter to convert the data
to an infra-red signal. An infra-red detector can receive the data
carried in the infra-red signal and appropriate circuitry can place
the data on bus 1302. Bus 1302 carries the data to main memory
1306, from which processor 1304 retrieves and executes the
instructions. The instructions received by main memory 1306 may
optionally be stored on storage device 1310 either before or after
execution by processor 1304.
Computer system 1300 also includes a communication interface 1318
coupled to bus 1302. Communication interface 1318 provides a
two-way data communication coupling to a network link 1320 that is
connected to a local network 1322. For example, communication
interface 1318 may be an integrated services digital network (ISDN)
card, cable modem, satellite modem, or a modem to provide a data
communication connection to a corresponding type of telephone line.
As another example, communication interface 1318 may be a local
area network (LAN) card to provide a data communication connection
to a compatible LAN. Wireless links may also be implemented. In any
such implementation, communication interface 1318 sends and
receives electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals that carry
digital data streams representing various types of information.
Network link 1320 typically provides data communication through one
or more networks to other data devices. For example, network link
1320 may provide a connection through local network 1322 to a host
computer 1324 or to data equipment operated by an Internet Service
Provider (ISP) 1326. ISP 1326 in turn provides data communication
services through the world wide packet data communication network
now commonly referred to as the "Internet" 1328. Local network 1322
and Internet 1328 both use electrical, electromagnetic or optical
signals that carry digital data streams. The signals through the
various networks and the signals on network link 1320 and through
communication interface 1318, which carry the digital data to and
from computer system 1300, are example forms of transmission
media.
Computer system 1300 can send messages and receive data, including
program code, through the network(s), network link 1320 and
communication interface 1318. In the Internet example, a server
1330 might transmit a requested code for an application program
through Internet 1328, ISP 1326, local network 1322 and
communication interface 1318.
The received code may be executed by processor 1304 as it is
received, and/or stored in storage device 1310, or other
non-volatile storage for later execution.
In the foregoing specification, embodiments have been described
with reference to numerous specific details that may vary from
implementation to implementation. The specification and drawings
are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a
restrictive sense. The sole and exclusive indicator of the scope of
the embodiments, and what is intended by the applicants to be the
scope of the embodiments, is the literal and equivalent scope of
the set of claims that issue from this application, in the specific
form in which such claims issue, including any subsequent
correction.
* * * * *
References